Of carrots and milestones
by Vickysg1
Summary: Carrots and hair just don't mix.


Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money; I just do it for fun.  
Author's Note: For xfirefly9x who wasn't feeling very good, yesterday. She gave me the prompt 'carrots' and let me choose the pairing between Cal/Gillian and John/Elizabeth. I chose the latter. I hope you'll enjoy this.

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As he entered her office, John could see that Elizabeth was trying very hard not to laugh. In the end, she just gave up and he was left waiting for her to calm down. He sat in the chair opposite her desk and crossed his arms.

He didn't mind seeing her laughing, but what he didn't like was feeling like she was laughing at him; which she probably was seeing as it started when he came into view. Still, he didn't know what prompted that reaction from her, and he had to wait until she was done to find out.

Finally, after a few minutes – and without turning around, he knew that everyone in the control room was looking in their direction – she calmed down, only hiccuping here and there.

"What?" he asked, holding his hands up.

"You have something orange in your hair," she answered, grabbing a few tissues, and rounding her desk to clean the mess herself.

"Yeah, it's probably just carrots I've missed. Our daughter's first foray into solid food didn't go as planned. Oh, she loved carrot puree, but she'd rather play with it than eat it."

"Did you manage to get some in her, at least?"

"I didn't let her starve, if that's what you were wondering," he replied and she held her hands up in defense.

"I was just asking. And aren't you a bit cranky?"

She let her hands trail in his hair, slowly massaging his scalp, before they descended on his shoulders and continued their ministrations. He was tense, but she guessed that she was, too.

The last two days had been nothing but stressful for them; they had to go back to Earth for a series of briefings with the IOA which had left Elizabeth with a headache. After learning of their new relationship status when Elizabeth got pregnant, they insisted on monthly briefings to review the performances of the two leaders, and to decide whether or not they still acted professionally while on duty. So far, they had nothing to say, and both Elizabeth and John hoped that it stayed this way.

They had taken advantage of these monthly trips to Earth to go to a pediatrician on Earth for their daughter, as they could see that Carson wasn't feeling at ease with a baby. And it was just yesterday, during the fourth month check up, that they were told that she was ready to start eating solid food.

"I swear they make it look easier than it really is in the books," John said, sighing when she hit a knot.

"Or our child may be particularly stubborn. With parents like us, it wouldn't be too surprising," she added, and they both laughed. "Well, the pediatrician said that it may not work at first, and that it has to happen on her own time. Maybe she's just not ready for solid food, yet."

"You're just saying that because you want to continue nursing her."

"But she's just four months old," she all but whined. "I know it's just food, but before we know it, she'll start walking, and talking, and wreaking havoc in the City."

"I know. But she _will_ have to go through all these milestones at one point. Tell you what," he said, grabbing her hands and getting up to face her, "why don't we have a quite dinner in our quarters tonight? Just the three of us."

"It sounds tempting."

"And once our daughter is asleep, I can return the massage, and maybe more," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Speaking of her, where is she?"

"Oh, she's taking a nap in our quarters."

"You left her alone?" she reacted immediately, taking a step back.

"She's with Teyla. Who could have at least told me about the puree in my hair," he added, wondering if the Athosian was taking revenge for something he had done. "I should let you get back to work, now. And next time, you'll be the one trying to feed her puree, and we'll see who will get to laugh this time."

"Carrot might just not be her thing. And it doesn't really go with your hair, anyway. We'll try with something sweeter, like bananas."

"Yeah, you'll do that. See you tonight?"

"Ok. I'll bring the food from the mess hall when I'm done."

He resisted the urge to grab her and kiss her as she rounded her desk to go sit in her chair; they had decided to stay professional during their work hours and that included no stolen kisses in her office. Not that Elizabeth stuck with her own rule during her pregnancy, but John never did complain, and certainly wouldn't if it were to happen again, no matter the circumstances surrounding it.

He still had something to look forward to for tonight; that was, of course, if their daughter didn't interrupt them _again_.

Fin.


End file.
